Don't Leave Me This Way
by Brit2
Summary: This is my first attempt at a Firefly fic. I am a stickler for canon so although this features Mal and Inara it is not a MalInara ship.
1. Preparations

Don't Leave Me This Way (WIP?)  
R for safety, sexual content, violence  
No spoilers  
By Brit

I do not own Serenity or her characters. I write for my own pleasure and not for profit. Joss is most definitely '**The Man**'.

Inara was preparing her shuttle and herself for her next client. She had several hours before he arrived but this man was most particular and everything must be just right for him.

She looked round at the opulent furnishings. The couch was piled with sumptuous velvet cushions. Rose scented candles were ready for lighting and deep rich red petals were strewn over the bed.

Inara gave a small, satisfied smile. Her surroundings were ready now she had to dress appropriately. She had been seeing this particular client for many years. His fantasy was always the same. He was deflowering his virgin bride. Inara stripped and ran a bowl of warm water, she scented it with essence of roses and began to wash. She used a large sponge to make sure that every secret part of her body was clean and fragrant. As she squeezed rivulets of perfumed water between her breasts she allowed her mind to wander. She touched herself gently dreaming about the encounter to come. Only one thing had spoiled her mood, a certain Firefly captain by the name of Reynolds.

He had as usual made a sly remark about her client and her occupation. He'd walked into the shuttle an hour previously and had wandered about looking at her belongings and moving things. She'd told him to stop and he'd given her that innocent boyish grin that she both loathed and loved.

"Frightened that your client won't be happy, 'Nara?" Reynolds said with a smirk. "This is the one that pays so gorram well isn't it? Reckon you won't have to spread your legs for a least a month afterwards."

He'd left then after giving her a searching look that had turned her insides to water. She must not think about him. She would not be doing her client justice if she thought about another man while she was with him. She couldn't help wonder though what it would feel like to have Mal's hands roaming her body to feel his lips on hers to have his body thrusting against her. She stopped there and took a deep breath. She must concentrate on the man that was paying her not on Malcolm Reynolds; after all she hated the arrogant 'go se'.

She dried herself on a soft towel and began to dress. First the wisps of underwear that felt so good against her bare skin. Then the pure silk tunic. It was fastened with dozens of tiny ribbon bows. Over that an embroidered heavy silk dress, also fastened with bows, then a jewel encrusted long coat. Her client had brought her the clothes and they were to be worn only for him.

She sat gracefully at her vanity and brushed her lustrous dark hair before pinning it up in an intricate style. Each strand of hair was fastened with a pin in the shape of a butterfly. Discreet make up followed. So discreet that it was hard to tell that she was wearing any at all. A spray with the client's favourite perfume completed her toilette.

She was ready; Inara always looked forward to seeing this particular client. He had told her to call him Beckett but she knew that wasn't his real name. He contacted her, she had no idea where he lived nor did she know anything about him. That was as it should be. He was good looking, very distinguished and extremely wealthy that was enough for the Companion.

She sat demurely on the edge of her couch. Knees together, hands in her lap and her head bowed. He changed into an open fronted robe when he arrived then he liked to undress her slowly undoing each of the tiny bows and kissing every inch of her body as he uncovered it. Lastly he unpinned her hair savouring its scent as he entered her.

He was one of the few clients who gave her as much pleasure as she gave him and he was a thoughtful and considerate lover. She had more than once called out his name in ecstasy, no need to pretend with Beckett.

Inara heard footsteps outside the shuttle and she smiled to herself at the thought of the long afternoon and evening ahead. She looked up ready to greet her client and saw Malcolm Reynolds standing in the doorway. His eyes were on her and she could see his repressed passion in them.

Inara felt a flush of warmth travel down her body until it settled in her loins. "Malcolm Reynolds," she said evenly. Her flashing dark eyes belying the calm in her voice..

"Sorry 'Nara," he drawled. "Gonna have to postpone the whoring, someplace Serenity needs to be."


	2. Hasty Decisions

**Chapter 2**

"Sorry 'Nara," he drawled. "Gonna have to postpone the whoring, someplace Serenity needs to be."

Inara sighed. Mal always managed to say or do the wrong thing when he was around her. She took a deep breath and tried not to kill him with a single look. She was furious, not only because of his ugly words but because he was yet again daring to interfere in her professional activities.

"Captain," she said. "There is obviously something about the technique of knocking that you find impossible to comprehend."

Mal smirked. "Man shouldn't have to knock on his own ship."

"You forget that I pay rent for this shuttle that makes it mine," she said. "I do not intend to disappoint this client because you have managed to immerse yourself in 'goushi' yet again.

Mal raised both eyebrows and tried to look innocent. "Not so much 'goushi' more a job, a great big important job that will pay as much as your pleasurin' ten customers and then some. Serenity will be leaving in 10 minutes, better contact your fine gentleman and tell him to take a cold shower."

Inara stamped a dainty foot. "Serenity may be leaving but she leaves without me. I have had enough of your cavalier attitude towards my work. I can put up with your crudity but I will not allow you to sully my reputation. If I do not honour this appointment my good name will suffer."

She had no idea how beautiful her anger made her look. Mal was almost breathless at the sight of her. A curl of hair had escaped its elaborate style and her face was flushed a dusky dark pink. She had a spot of high colour on each cheek almost as dark as the rose petals she'd scattered earlier.

He could feel his loins stirring as he watched her. Although the woman was infuriating Mal would have liked nothing better than to throw her down on the bed and take her. He could work out all his frustration on her body. It had been a long time since he'd been with a woman. He would need a cold shower if he didn't get better control of himself.

"I will wait here, 'pleasure' my client in any way I see fit and then rendezvous with Serenity later." Inara was not open to compromise. "Then you and I will discuss whether or not I continue to stay on board.

Mal turned abruptly he was not going to let her see the effect she had on him. In some obscure way that would mean that she'd won.

"Fine," he said. "I'll get Wash to send you a wave when we're in shuttle range again."

He walked out of the shuttle and slammed the door shut behind him. The cold demeanour lasted a few more steps until he was sure that if she looked she wouldn't be able to see him. Mal's shoulders drooped and he gave a deep sigh. Why did he never think before opening his mouth? Now she was probably going to leave. It had almost happened once before but that time she'd unaccountably changed her mind. Mal knew that this time she meant it. There would be no discussion despite what she'd said. Inara Serra and Serenity were going to part company and it was his fault.

Inara stood for a few seconds just looking at the closed door. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears and she cursed Malcolm Reynolds calling him every name she could think of. She didn't want to leave Serenity, the ship was her home and she'd loved it from the first moment she'd set foot on board.

Perhaps it would have been easier if she'd just slept with the Captain. Things would not have been so tense between them if she'd given him the ride of his life and got herself out of his system. She shook her head. That wasn't the way she did business. She did not service the crew or other passengers and she'd made that very clear from the start.

She splashed her eyes with cool water and then drew aside the gauzy curtain that separated the flight controls from the rest of the shuttle. With ease brought about by long practice she detached the shuttle and brought it down to land again several hundred feet from Serenity.

She still had a little time before her client arrived and she spent the minutes repairing her make up and pinning up the errant curl of hair that had dislodged itself during her argument with Mal.

By the time her client tapped the door Serenity was gone and Inara was her usual composed self. She bowed deeply then ushered Beckett into the shuttle. The ritual of their lovemaking began but for once Inara was unable to lose herself in the carefully choreographed moves that the man insisted on. Not that he would ever know. Inara was every inch the professional, gasping and moaning on cue. When he finally took her she imagined herself in Malcolm Reynolds arms and it was all she could do not to cry out his name as she climaxed.


End file.
